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The Sorcerer in the North
The Sorcerer of the North is the fifth book in the Ranger's Apprentice series by John Flanagan. Synopsis Will, you are a Ranger now, protect your land at all costs. You are a fully-fledged Ranger at last but your new land is already under threat. The Grimsdell Forest is being haunted by eerie voice and the terrifying figure of the Night Warrior. Could this really be the work of sorcery? As you battle growing hysteria and traitors, your lifelong friend Alyss, is taken hostage. Time is running short. Do you save her or stay true to your mission? Plot 'Seacliff Fief' This novel starts with Will traveling to his first assignment as a fully fledged Ranger. During his travel to his assigned fief, he finds a female dog bleeding to death by the roadside. Will takes her in, placing her on the back of his horse so he can later tend to her wounds properly. He catches a boat ride to the main island as Seacliff Fief is seperated from the main body of Araluen by a stretch of water, he ferry man is wary of the Ranger, in particular, when he talks quietly to Tug. Riding through the village Will is greeted with slightly wary and suspicious gazes which comes as no surprise to him. However, one young woman, looking out of a window in the village inn watches him intentlly, Will later finds out that she is called Deliah. After spending a few weeks at Seacliff, the fief to which Will is assigned, Will realises that this fief has grown lax in the training of its knights and a little lax in its responsibilities due to fact it is a bit of a 'backwater' and he struggles with the lack of activity, being used to the pace of life in a busy and large Fief like Redmont. However, this is muted as he starts to make friends with Delia and he finds himself enjoying spending time with a pretty young woman and starts to get quite fond of her. 'Skandians' Just before the month is up, a Skandian raiding party consisting of around thirty men arrive at this lazy town. The soldiers are unprepared from the lack of practice and would certainly not stand a chance against the raiding party. Will rides out alone to meet them and they come to an agreement, in particular when Will is recognized by one of the Skandians who was present in the battle against the Temujai in the Battle for Skandia. The Skandian party had little choice but to raid the town because they would have starved otherwise; however, if they attacked, Will would have killed at least half of them with his yew longbow before they even reached the town. Will had a better idea and persuaded the baron and battlemaster to supply a certain number of animals, food and drink for the Skandians and then has them thrown a banquet in the castle. By this, Will did two things: he taught the baron and battle master a lesson and protected Seacliff from raiding. After that the Battlemaster has his knights and apprentices step up their training. 'A New Mission' After a few days, Alyss, Will's lifelong friend, arrived at Seacliff on a couier mission. There is some awkwardness in the meeting as Will was entertaining Delia on his mandola which he had learnt to play later on in his apprenticeship. Alyss and Delia are therefore a little tense with each other as Alyss is still in love with Will. Delia leaves, fuming quietly as she quite likes Will. While sitting in Will's cabin, Alyss mentioned Halt, Will's former master, and Crowley, the Ranger Corp Commandant, had a task for him and that she was here to inform him about it, the courier mission merely being a ruse. Unfortunately their conversation was overheard by John Buttle the man who had injured Will's dog earlier and was connected to a string of murders in the area. Will, realising they are being spied on, knocks him out cold and ties him up. Alyss says they will probably have to kill him, due to the fact he had overheard part of their conversation. Will had a better solution and gave him to the Skandian raiders as a slave. Which, Gundar Hardstriker (the captain of the Ship) is delighted by as it will help to make them a profit back in Skandia. 'At the Gathering Grounds' Will travelled to Halt and Crowley as Alyss had instructed him and met them at the Ranger's Gathering Grounds where he meets up with Halt and Crowley. His master told him to go undercover as a jongleur and gather information in Norgate, a northern fief, at the castle Macindaw. Lord Syron, the master at castle Macindaw, had fallen sick from some strange illness. Rumors had spread that a sorcerer was responsible for the illness and they wanted Will to investigate. Will agrees to head out on the mission, eager to see some action. He travels part of the way to Norgate Fief with a "retired" Ranger called Berrigan who works undercover every now and again for the Ranger Corps, travelling as a jongleur with his guittara. 'Castle Macindaw' Once in Norgate Fief, Will, now comfortable with his role as a jongleur, heads for an inn to gather his first pieces of information with regard to the situation. After playing a few songs, the crowd in the tavern quickly warm to him and becomes quite friendly. Ebony is also with Will, and he has trained her to help in his act. The village folk reveal some of what they know about the situation at Castle Macindaw after Will says that is where he wishes to travel to next. At Macindaw, Will met Orman, the temporary lord of the castle as he is the son of Lord Syron. An irate bibliophile, he is always wearing black. Orman is an unpopular ruler due to the fact of his lack of skill in battle and the fact he is more of a scholar than anything else. Will also met Sir Keren, Orman's cousin and a more popular man among the subjects in the castle. Will was immediately suspicious of Orman and so was Alyss, who just so happened to be his contact sent by Halt and Crowley. Alyss was undercover as Lady Gwendolyn, a pompous and superficial woman on her way to her fiance's castle in the next fief. 'Unmasked' Later as the plot unwrapped Orman summons Will to his quarters and it is revealed that the guise of a simple jongleur failed and Orman knows Will to be a Ranger. Orman tells Will that Keren was planning a take over of the castle and that Keren had poisoned Lord Syron and has managed to do the same to Orman. So Will escapes from the castle with Orman and his assistant, Xander to Grimsdell Woods where the "sorcerer" lived. Once there, they found Malcom the "sorcerer" and asked for his help which he gave. Alyss meanwhile, was puzzled seeing Will help Orman and fantasized many conclusions none of which were right. Then Keren entered her room to tell her about the recent events, but as they were talking, John Buttle walks in. He recognizes Alyss and she is captured. Keren hypnotizes her with a stone and tries to force her to tell the truth, the first attempt doesn't work, but the second does. 'Rescue' Will later went back to Macindaw in an attempt to save her. He climbed the tower wall and attempted to dissolve the bars protecting the window with a special acid he received from Malcom. Will fails in rescue attempt and just barely escapes from the castle with his life. 'The Help of a Friend' The story ends with a scene at Castle Araluen. Halt and Crowley are debating what to do about the situation in the north. They haven't heard from Will via the pigeon messages and after discussing (at times in a somewhat heated fashion) they send for Horace, one of the best knights the kingdom. Horace heads off for Norgate Fief to help his friend and discover what has happened. Characters *Abelard *Alyss *Berrigan *Crowley *Delia *Ebony *Gundar Hardstriker *Halt *Horace *John Buttle *Sir Keren *Malcolm *Orman *Tug *Will Treaty *Xandar Gallery Book covers: Grijze jager boek 5 en.jpg The Sorcerer Of The North.jpg The Sorcerer in the North (Au).jpg 320010300.jpg RA-CZ 6.jpg Boek 5 DMVM.jpg|Dutch cover Other Pictures: sorcerer-in-the-north-wallpaper.jpg Category:Series Category:Books Category:Ranger's Apprentice Series Category:Articles needing Improvement